Tuesday, December 29, 2015

WHO Declares End Of Ebola Transmission In Guinea

# 10,839

Although the declaration of an `end to Ebola transmission' in Guinea today is a huge and long awaited milestone - it doesn't mean the threat in West Africa is over - but 42 days without registering a new case is a hopeful sign.

The virus likely remains in the environment, and could easily be reintroduced through the consumption of infected bush meat. And we've strong evidence that some Ebola survivors can carry (and shed) the virus for months after they have recovered, providing yet another route for resurgence.

All of which makes `getting to zero, and staying there’ a daunting task.

Additionally, there are thousands of survivors who continue to suffer from a variety of serious sequelae, and the social stigma of having been infected. Their recovery, and the region's, will be a long process.

Geneva, 29 December 2015
- Today the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of Ebola
virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea. Forty-two days have passed
since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested
negative for the second time. Guinea now enters a 90-day period of
heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are identified
quickly before they can spread to other people.

“WHO
commends the Government of Guinea and its people on the significant
achievement of ending its Ebola outbreak. We must render homage to the
Government and people of Guinea who, in adversity, have shown
extraordinary leadership in fighting the epidemic,” says Dr Mohamed
Belhocine, WHO Representative in Guinea. “WHO and its partners will
continue to support Guinea during the next 90 days of heightened
surveillance and in its early efforts to restart and strengthen
essential health services throughout 2016.”

A milestone for the Ebola outbreak

The
end of Ebola transmission in Guinea marks an important milestone in the
Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The original chain of transmission
started two years ago in Gueckedou, Guinea in late December 2013 and
drove the outbreak which spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone
and, ultimately, by land and air travel to seven other countries.

“This
is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission that were
responsible for starting this devastating outbreak two years ago,” says
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “I commend the
governments, communities and partners for their determination in
confronting this epidemic to get to this milestone. As we work towards
building resilient health care systems, we need to stay vigilant to
ensure that we rapidly stop any new flares that may come up in 2016.”

In
addition to the original chain of transmission, there have been 10 new
small Ebola outbreaks (or ‘flares’) between March and November 2015.
These appear to have been due to the re-emergence of a persistent virus
from the survivor population.

Among the challenges survivors have
faced is that after recovering from Ebola virus disease and clearing the
virus from their bloodstream, the virus may persist in the semen of
some male survivors for as long as 9-12 months.WHO and its
partners are working with the Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea to help ensure that survivors have access to medical and
psychosocial care, screening for persistent virus, as well as
counselling and education to help them reintegrate into family and
community life, reduce stigma and minimize the risk of Ebola virus
transmission.

Sustained support to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

“The
coming months will be absolutely critical,” says Dr Bruce Aylward,
Special Representative of the Director-General for the Ebola Response,
WHO. “This is the period when the countries need to be sure that they
are fully prepared to prevent, detect and respond to any new cases.

“The
time-limited persistence of virus in survivors which may give rise to
new Ebola flares in 2016 makes it imperative that partners continue to
support these countries. WHO will maintain surveillance and outbreak
response teams in the three countries through 2016.”At the same
time, 2016 will see the three most-affected countries implementing a
full health sector recovery agenda to restart and strengthen key public
health programmes, especially maternal and child health, while
continuing to maintain the capacity to detect, prevent and respond to
any flare-up of Ebola.